Combined postal scale, check protector, and letter opener



Feb. 19, 1952 c. SKELLEY 2,586,443

COMBINED POSTAL SCALE, CHECK PROTECTOR, AND LETTER OPENER Filed Jan. 17, 1950 IN VEN TOR.

' czarzes w/Tezz Patented Feb. 19, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINED POSTAL SCALE, CHECK PRO- TECTOR, AND LETTER OPENER '7 Claims.

vice of this character of a shape and size approximating that of a pen or pencil and which,

despite its relatively small size, shall constitute a sturdy, compact and useful device for weighing and opening letters and abrading checks for protective purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in an article of this character, an accurate and useful postal scale in which several of the co- T operating parts thereof shall have dual functions, such as that of a'letter opener and of a check abrader.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a useful tool of the character above-mentioned, said tool having a body or barrel of a shape and size approximating that of a fountain pen or pencil and provided with a shiftable pivot member or fulcrum from which a pivotal finger-piece extends to suspend the tool for weighing purposes, said tool having a spring-pressed knurled roller at one end movable by sliding movement of the fulcrum and against the force of its spring, to enable a letter to be inserted between the roller and the barrel of the tool and gripped between the roller and end of the barrel for the weighing operation. Said tool also includes an adjustable blade portion usable as a letter opener, but also adjustable in a direction axially of the body of the tool to secure I proper balance of the scale.

These and other objects of the invention to be hereinafter disclosed, are attained by themvention, a more particular description of which will appear in the annexed specification and be set forth in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is distudinal sectional view through the tool'for the greater portion of its length; Fig. is a top plan view of the balance means for the scale; Fig. Sis a side elevation of the knurled roller employed for check protection; Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the split inner sleeve; Fig. 8 is a sectional view, taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows, and Fig. 9 is a view, showing how the check-protecting roller is used.

The device as constructed according to the disclosures of the drawing, it preferably and for convenience, in shape and size, made to generally resemble a pen or pencil and it may be thus employed as part of a desk set, or it can be conveniently carried in a pocket or hand-bag. In the form shown, it is provided with a main cylindrical body portion or barrel l, within which is snugly and fixedly fitted a tube 2. Toward its-forward end, the inner tube 2 is split, as shown at 3, the slot thus produced extending inwardly and longitudinally from the forward end of. the tube 2, and securely gripped thereby and held against rotative or axial movement, is a bushing 4. Said bushing is firmly gripped by the split end of the tube 2 since such split end of the tube is compressed around the bushing 4 by the pressure of the surrounding wall of the body portion or barrel I of the tool.

The bushing 4 constitutes a bearing for the stem 5 of the substantially conical, knurled or roughened abrading roller 6, which not only 7 serves as an abrading member for the protection of checks, but also functions as a gripping member for holding a letter to be weighed, as shown in Fig. 3, and as will be presently explained. At its inner end, the stem 5 is provided with a diskshaped head I, and a coil spring 8 surrounds the stem between said head I and the bushing 4, said spring being effective to hold the roller 6 in its retracted position, or that in which its shoulder 9 is held in contact with the forward end ID of the body member or barrel l and tube 2.

The scale portion of the tool includes a slid-' able cylinder ll, the position of which establishes the balance point of the scale. Said cylinder is located within the inner tube 2 and is slidable axially of the same to be halted at several selected points along the slot 3 in the inner tube, as indicated by the notches l2, l3 and I4 clearly seen in Fig. '7, said notches extendin laterally from the slot 3. The cylinder II is vertically slotted for a portion of its length, as indicated at P5 and pivotal in said slot 15 is the scale-suspension lever 16. The lever I6 is provided at one end with a fixed ball I! located in a transverse notch l8 in the top of the cylinder II, as clearly seen in Figs. 4 and 5.

.Near its forward end, the cylinder is provided with a recess 3| within which is located a coil spring is resiliently operative against a ball 25 to urge said ball against the inner wall surface of the tube 2. This arrangement serves to set up suflicient friction between the ball 20 and the tube 2 to prevent undue looseness between the parts and particularly between. the sliding cylinder l l and the tube 2 and at the same time, the pivot ball i? is maintained in contact with the edge of the slot 3 as more clearly shown in Fig. 8, resulting in the ball engaging in any one of the selected notches l2, l3 and M with a distinct click, as the cylinder is slid along in the tube 5! to secure balance of the scale at several desired weights during the weighing operation.

In Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawing, the suspension lever 16 is shown in its lowered position, it being therein noted that the lever is provided with a plurality of notches or serrations 2| 'to facilitate its handling and operation. In Fig. 3 it will be seen that the lever 16 has been lifted or swung upwardly to its raised position, or that which is assumed by it when the tool is serving as a postal scale or balance. To reach the raised position shown in Fig. 3, the suspension lever is manually lifted by the finger and is swung upwardly upon its pivot i7 through the slot 3 provided in the tube 2, and also through an elongated slot 22 provided in the wall of the barrel 1 and in registration with slot 3.

Extending from the rear end of the inner tube 2 is the letter-opener, which includes a blade 23 projecting from an externally threaded cylindrical member 24, threadably adjustable within the rear end of the tube 2. The blade is adapted to be encased and protected by a cap or sheath 25 whichfits over the blade and frictionally engages over the projecting end part 21 of the inner tube 2. The diameter of the cap 23, at its larger end, is substantially that of the barrel I so that when the cap is fitted in position on the part 21 of the tube 2, the cap will form a tapering continuation of the barrel i of the tool as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

From the foregoing, the operation of the device will be readil understood. When it is desired to use the device as a check protector or check abrader, it is merely held in the hand and the roller 6 placed in firm contact with the portion of the check to be abraded. As the tool When it is desired to employ the tool as a L letter opener, the cap is removed and the blade 23 employed in the conventional manner for opening a letter.

To weight a letter, forward finger pressure is imposed upon the lever 8 while the lever is in its lowered or closed position, and such pressure will slide the lever forwardly as well as similarly urge the cylinder H forwardly within the tube 2. The forward movement of the cylinder H will impose pressure upon the head of the stem 5, thus causing the roller ii to be advanced against the pressure of spring 8, and moved. away from the forward end iii of the barrel I. A letter 38 or other relatively flat object to be weighed may now have one of its edges inserted between the shoulder 9 on the roller 5 and the forward end ID of the body member i, and upon release of forward pressure on the lever Hi, the roller 5 will be moved toward the end ill by pressure of spring 8 and the letter thus gripped between the shoulder 9 and barrel-end l0 and held suspended from the forward end of the tool in the manner shown in Fig. 3. The suspension lever I6 is now swung to its vertical or raised position, and when the lever 16 is held in the fingers, the body of the tool then becomes the beam of a balance scale, the pivotal point thereof being the ball I].

The body of the tool is so balanced that when the pivot point or ball U is located in registration with the notches M, a letter weighing an ounce will maintain the body of the tool horizontally. Similarly, when the pivot point I! is located at the notches 13, a letter weighing two ounces will result in a balance being attained and likewise when a letter weighing three ounces is weighed and the pivot point is at the notches I2, a balance will be secured.

To secure proper balance at these indicated points, axial adjustment of the rear end of the tool may be required, and this is obtained by the threaded coupling between the member 24 of the letter-opening blade 23 and the interior of the tube 2. This arrangement allows the blade to be extended or retracted as required to set the scale in perfect balance.

It will be clear from the foregoing, that the several parts of the device are (so-operative in various ways. That is to say, while the checkabrading roller 6 is usable to abrade and protect checks, it also forms a portion of the scale since it co-operates therewith in gripping and suspending the letters during the weighing operations. Also, while the blade 23 and the cap 25 fitted thereover are each functional as a letter opener and cap, they also function as a balancing means for the scale, the blade mount being adjustable for thatpurpose.

While I have described one embodiment of the invention, itis obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A combined postal scale, check protector and letter opener, comprising a sleeve-like barrel having a rotative knurled roller mounted at one end, spring means for urging said roller against the end of said barrel and enabling a letter to be gripped between the roller and the end of the barrel, a scale pivot-member slidable inside of the body member to locate it at any one of a number of weighing positions, a pivoted finger-piece attached to the pivot member, and a letter-opening blade at the end of the barrel remote from the roller, said blade being longitudinally shiftable in the barrel to secure proper balance of the scale.

2. .A combined postal scale, check protector and and letter opener, comprising a cylindrical barrel open at its forward end, a roller located at said forward end and rotative relative to the barrel, said roller including a head slidable within the barrel spring means operative against said head for holding the inner end of the roller against the forward end of the barrel, a scale pivot-member slidable inside of the barrel and shiftable along in the barrel to locate it at any one of a number of selected balancing positions, said pivot member being operative against the spring pressed head toforce the roller away from the end of the barrel against the pressure of said spring means, a

2 the barrel remote from the roller .for securing proper balance of the'scale.

3. In a combination tool, a barrel constituting the beam of a scale, a pivot member within and slidable axially of the barrel, a lever pivotally attached to the pivot member, the barrel having a slot through which said lever may be elevated, a bearing in one end of the barrel, a roller rotative in said bearing and being movable axially of the bearing, a spring for urging the roller into contact with an end of the barrel, and a head at the inner end of the roller for engagement by the pivot member to cause the roller to be moved away from the end of the barrel against the pressure of the spring when the pivot member is slid along inside of the barrel for a predetermined extent.

4. A combination tool of the character described, comprising a barrel, an inner tube fitted within the barrel, said tube being slotted inwardly from its front end, a bushing fitted within and gripped by the slotted end of the tube, a roller located beyond the forward end of the barrel and provided with a stem rotative within the bushing, a head at the inner end of the stem, a spring disposed between said head and the bushing, the stem being capable of sliding axial movement within the bushing, a slidable member located within the tube and movable axially of the same and adapted to be urged against the head to thereby force the roller away from the forward end of the barrel against the urge of the spring, a lever pivoted on the slidable member, the barrel and tube being slotted to permit elevating movement of the lever through the slots in said barrel and tube, and an adjustable extension at the rear end of the barrel for securing balance for the tool when the tool is suspended from the lever.

5. In a combination tool as provided for in claim 4, wherein the bushing is frictionally gripped by the split portion of the tube by contraction of this part of the tube by encirclement by the barrel, a spring-pressed element carried by the slidable member and operative against the inner surface of the wall of the tube, the adjustable extension at the rear end of the barrel being in the form of a letter-opening blade, and a removable cap fitted over and covering said blade.

6. A combination tool of the character described, comprising a barrel, an inner tube concentrically fitted within the barrel, said tube being provided with an elongated, longitudinallyextending slot directed inwardly from the forward end of the tube and extending for a substantial part of the length of the tube, the barrel being formed with a lengthy slot located in registration with the slot in the tube, a bushing fitted within and gripped by the slotted end of the tube, a knurled roller located at the forward end of the barrel and provided with a stem extending through the bushing, a head at the inner end of the stem within the tube and behind the bushing, a spring located between the head and the bushing and operative to hold the roller against the end of the barrel, the stem being capable of axial sliding movement within the bushing, a slidable member located within the tube and movable axially of the same, a spring-pressed element carried by the slidable member and resiliently urged against the inner wall surface of the tube, the slidable member being movable to abut against the head and urge the roller away from the end of the barrel against the pressure of the spring, a lever pivoted at one end on the slidable member, said lever being capable of upward swing to enable it to project upwardly through the slots in the tube and barrel to a substantially vertical position to serve as a suspension member for the tool, stop means for positioning the slidable member at certain positions to secure balance of the tool at predetermined weights, and an adjustable extension at the rear end of the barrel for securing proper balance of the tool.

7. A combination tool having a barrel forming the beam of a balance scale, a slidable pivot for the barrel, a finger-piece by which the barrel is swingingly supported, a letter holder at one end of the barrel for holding a letter between it and the end of the barrel, said letter holder being in the form of a knurled roller and formed with a shoulder cooperating with the end of the barrel to grip a suspended letter, said letter holder being rotatable while maintained under spring pressure against the end of the barrel, spring means for urging said letter holder against the end of the barrel, an adjustable extension at the opposite end of the barrel, and a cap fitted over and enclosing said extension.

CHARLES L. SKELLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 93,720 Kepner Aug. 17, 1869 1,378,496 Sundstrand May 17, 1921 1,843,934 Stephens Feb. 9, 1932 2,186,256 McClain Jan. 9, 1940 2,502,680 Stewart Apr. 4, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 453,128 Great Britain Sept. 4, 1936 506,650 Great Britain June 1, 1939 601,635 Great Britain May 10, 1948 650,448 Germany Sept. 23, 1937 

